Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

เข็ด ('khade' low tone): in S. Thai means 'hurt' or 'to be in pain'. It can be used as either a verb or adjective.

Additionally, If someone says เข็ดแล้ว it commonly means "enough" or "I give up" (eg. because the pain or suffering is too much)...hopefully we won't need to use it too often!

I havn't heard this one, but wife confirm :)

Check this video:

a small rosetta stone of southern Thai, not just for the 6 words they present, but for the subtitiles which spell out many southern words, some I have mispelled earlier in this thread

for example ที is ถิ ยังถิ

outside of this video I thought of บันได-ขันได

bandai (ladder + stairs) = kandai

Relevant to yours also shows a B-->K switch

All in all with a previous posters mention of Farang-->Kalang so many phonemes can switch to K regardless of close they are in the mouth, e.g. not having to do with typical Southern Thai 'lazy tounge.'

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Good posts by Surfdog. The problem I am having now with Southern Thai is a kind of low-grade frustration. I learned to speak Thai in Bangkok and never felt the need to learn Southern Thai when I lived in Phuket, Songkhla Town or Hat Yai...But now living with my elderly peasants-in-law, it seems I will need to learn it if I ever want to communicate effectively with them. (sometimes it is a blessing not to understand what they are saying, that's for sure!)

But then I wonder if it is really worth the effort. After all, when the current elderly generation dies off I think the Southern Dialect will begin to die out too...or will it? Anyway, I guess I just want to open up a discussion on whether Southern Thai is on the way out or not...

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

like the point of the video, outsiders not knowing when southerners are insulting them, yes kind of ignorance is bliss, but ignorance nonetheless. Having no idea who you friends really are

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

Good point...I think when I was a young man living in Bangkok I would go into this heightened state of listening awareness whenever I heard the word 'farang'...maybe it was from a slight kind of paranoia, but it really helped me pick up the language quite well. Now, with the Southern Thai, my inclination is just to tune out.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Good point...I think when I was a young man living in Bangkok I would go into this heightened state of listening awareness whenever I heard the word 'farang'...maybe it was from a slight kind of paranoia, but it really helped me pick up the language quite well. Now, with the Southern Thai, my inclination is just to tune out.

weird post went through twice and can't edit or delete, anyways... reminds of first month in Thailand living in Don Muong, I made it 5 min before being 'adopted.' Everybody always asking me ไปไหน and all I could think about is why all these people who don't me are so concerned where I'm going.

Hey my first couple years in the south also was to just tune out or look down on southern Thai, the ups and downs of volume and lazy tongue made comprehension near impossible, and wasn't too hard to imagine I was the subject of an innocent or not so innocent joke on my behalf. So why bother listening to these people. Now that I know which is which it is nice to make longstanding business connections and people I can trust.

But to delve deeper into Thai language and why southern Thai is important to Thais and foreigners alike.

It is my opinion in Thai culture, meetings are very transactional, first greetings assess through language:

1. gender2. sexual preference3. class4. region

Therefore when a southerner greets you subconsciously or consciously they are investigating 3 + 4 for value in any current or future transactions. 1 + 2 are not as important in business because then comes the 5th factor of business, knowing the price and negotiating.

Therefore first your Thai language is tested, standard Thai greetings like "ไปไหน" or sawatdee are thrown out. If you answer fluently, a further test will be initiated "แรงใต้ไหม" (can you speak southern).

This happens to me when shopping at any small businesses where prices are negotiated daily.

I have at many times negotiated prices lower than my in laws can, Durian is not cheap and with inflation and poor exhange rates, gratuity is not a luxury I can afford like 10 years ago.

So yes, in my opinion it is everybody's best interest to be able to listen and to speak southern when living down here. e.g. แรงใต้ได้ครับ

Especially if you are being assesed for nefarious purposes like robbery, rape, con-job, etc., or if you eat a lot of Durian.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I like your 1-4 breakdown, but when Thais are dealing with me I still seem to get the overwhelming Farang! Farang! reaction.

I sometimes wonder what it must be like to be an ethnic non-Thai Asian living here, like the many Filipino teachers I have met.

One of the things I like about living in Ranode, after 15 years in Phuket, is that I don't feel the average local person is out to take advantage of me on a deal.

I love durian as much as anyone and continue to suspect that it may be the single greatest evidence of extraterrestrial tampering, as it really is out of this world...so far my attempt to grow my own have failed...

Anyway, I will try to sniff out some new words today to get this thread back on topic!